The Gospel of Mark #7 – “Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath”
Mark 2:23-3:6
Intro –
1. How many of you prayed this prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep…?” (Quote) Unfortunately, I also used to pray, “Now I lay me down to rest…” (Quote)
2. ILL – A student sat through an exam; the teacher supervising said time up but still the student carried on. The teacher said; “Hand your exam paper in now or I’m not going to accept it.” Still the student carried on. 30 minutes later the student got up and stood before the teacher. The teacher looked at him and said; “I am not going to accept your paper it is late”. The student looked the teacher in the eye and said; “Do you know who I am?” The teacher replied “No, and I don’t really care!” For a second time the student said; “Do you know who I am?” For a second the teacher replied “No!” The student replied; “Good”, He then lifted the stack of exams, stuffed his paper in the middle, & ran out of the room.
3. In the gospels, the fundamental reason we see such hatred coming from the Pharisees toward Jesus is the fact that they do not know Who He really was!
4. Mark 2:23-3:6 (read)
5. These 2 stories are also found Matt. 12:1-14 & Luke 6:1-11.
6. In these verses we see more controversy between Jesus & the Pharisees. On the surface, the point of contention was keeping the Sabbath. The Pharisees were going to get very upset about Jesus & His disciples picking grain on the Sabbath, as well as Jesus healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath.
7. However, the real underlying issue was that the Pharisees kept the letter of the Law but not the spirit of the Law.
8. Matt 23:23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
9. 2 Cor. 3:6 “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
10. In the end, the Pharisees once again plot to kill Jesus. They want to know, “Who does this guy think he is?” He is the Lord of Sabbath.
I. What was the Sabbath? – 2:27 “Sabbath” 7x in 12 vs. **might be important!!
To properly understand the impact of these 2 events in the life of Christ, we must 1st understand what exactly the Sabbath was.
A. In the O. T. – it was a celebration of God resting from His work of creation.
1. The Hebrew word “Shabbat” literally means “rest.” In Gen. 2, God rested & sanctified the 7th day (Saturday) but gave no command about it at that time.
2. Gen. 2:3 “And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”
3. The first Sabbath command was given in Ex. 16 when Moses told the Israelites that God had given them the Sabbath (v. 29).
4. There were few if any days off in Egypt for slaves (10 day week). The gift of one day off a week was indeed intended to be a blessing, to be gratefully received.
5. Finally, in Exodus 20, Moses gave the 10 commandments – the 4th was –
6. Ex. 20:8-11 “8Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
7. The purpose was to remember the God who created them & redeemed them by resting in His power & worshipping Him! The purpose was never to have so many rules that it was a burden – it was intended to be a blessing (2:27)!!
8. 2:27 (NCV) “…The Sabbath day was made to help people; they were not made to be ruled by the Sabbath day.”
B. In the N. T. – the Sabbath has been done away with in Christ: He is our rest!
1. One of the common misconceptions currently held among Christians is that our observance of Sunday as the “Lord’s day” is the Christian Sabbath, the Sabbath day of the O. T. saint, revised & tailored to meet the need for Christian worship.
2. Remember, we learned last week that Jesus did not come to patch up the old religious system of the Jews; rather, He came to make all things new!
3. Nowhere in the N. T. is the believer commanded to keep the Sabbath!
4. We will never understand this unless we see that Jesus is our rest. We do not get rest in our souls by taking a day off, being religious, or working your way to Heaven.
5. True rest comes through the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary!
6. Col. 2:16-17 “16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” **He is our rest!!!
7. Just before Matthew wrote of this same account in Matthew 12:1-14, He made a point of including these words.
8. Mattt. 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
II. Why is Jesus Lord of the Sabbath? 2:28
The titles that Jesus gave to Himself are important. (Ex. – “Son of David” fulfilled prophecy of the Messiah coming from David’s line; “Son of man” spoke of Jesus identification with mankind; “Son of God” established Him as the unique God-man.) The Pharisees must have been incensed at this because there is only 1 Lord (Duet. 6:4).
What right did Jesus have to call Himself Lord of the Sabbath?
A. His right as Creator –
1. As Lord of the Sabbath Jesus is the divine Creator of all things!
2. John 1:3 “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
3. Col. 1:16 “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”
4. ILL – At a theology seminar, a 30 minute paper was read in response to a recently-published article. After the paper was read, the seminar leader invited 10 minutes of questions from the audience. A man raised his hand & began to defend the published article against which the paper was written. Back & forth they disagreed until the speaker finally cut him off. “I beg your pardon,” he began, “but I think you’ve misunderstood the intention of the author of that article.” The man in the audience replied, “I beg your pardon, but I am the author of that article.”
5. Doesn’t it make sense that the author would know best? Jesus is the author of the Sabbath, therefore, He is Lord of it too!
B. His right as Redeemer –
1. Jesus not only created the world & everything in it, but He came to fulfill the Law & set men free from its bondage – this includes the Sabbath laws.
2. Gal. 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
3. The word “redeem” means to be purchased from the slave market. This is exactly what Jesus did – He set us free from the slavery of sin which the Law could never do!
III. What Lessons can we Learn from these 2 Stories? 2:23-3:6
Here we have 2 situations that infuriated the Pharisees. In neither case did Christ violate the Old Testament Law; He only violated human traditions that had been added to the Law.
**2 important lessons from these stories –
A. Story #1 – it is always right to do right – 2:23-24
1. The disciples were going through a field of grain on a Sabbath day & picking some. They were not working for profit – they were hungry.
2. The Law actually allowed for this in Duet. 23:25. However, the Pharisees had established 39 stringent categories of actions forbidden on the Sabbath. Harvesting grain was one of them.
3. By picking a few grains of wheat & rubbing it in their hands they were “technically” harvesting according to the Pharisees.
4. Jesus responds by telling the story of what David did in 1 Sam 21:1-16 & putting his stamp of approval on David’s breaking the Law for a greater purpose.
5. ILL – Raji Burudi…hiding in a septic tank for 8 hours…
6. We may come to a time in this country where we have to choose what is right over what is demanded by man’s law. If so, we obey God 1st!
7. Acts 5:29 “Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than men!’”
B. Story #2 – it is always right to do good – 3:1-6
1. The second story involved healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath.
2. Once again the Pharisees had gone beyond what the Law forbade & had added the prohibition of not dispensing medicine on the Sabbath unless death was imminent.
3. Jesus responds by asking “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” (3:4)
4. When they refused to answer Christ's question, He healed the man.
5. So to should we always be willing to do good whenever & however we can!
6. Gal. 6:9-10 “9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
7. While we can never do enough good works to earn salvation, we ought to do good works to prove our salvation!
Conc. –
1. Jesus has taught us 2 things through this text –
a. Meeting true human need & compassion always takes precedence over custom, ritual, ceremony & tradition.
**Hosea 6:6 "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”
b. Jesus is Lord of every day!!
2. Is the Lord of the Sabbath, the Lord of your heart?
